Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2001
Tornado Warning 5, NWS Brownsville, TX
NWS Brownsville, TX issued this tornado warning at May 31, 2001, 3:08 PM CDT for Cameron County, Texas. It was in force for 37 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- May 31, 2001, 3:08 PM CDT (20:08 UTC)
- Expired
- May 31, 2001, 3:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 37 min
- Issued by
- NWS Brownsville, TX
- Area
- Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction
County Cameron County, TX
The radar
The Brownsville radar (KBRO), 31 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:12 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.
Open the radar archive at this moment
The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 3:45 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Rancho Viejo, TX | An airplane pilot and an emergency technician both sighted a tornado between San Benito and Rancho Viejo. |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.
The nearest sounding before it
Brownsville Intl, TX (KBRO), launched 12:00Z, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 33 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2642 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -1 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 531 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 27 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -17 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 42 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- -1.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WFUS54 KBRO 312013 TORBRO TXC061-312045- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX 308 PM CDT THU MAY 31 2001 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... CENTRAL CAMERON COUNTY IN DEEP SOUTH TEXAS * UNTIL 345 PM CDT * AT 306 PM CDT...WEATHER SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO 3 MILES NORTHWEST OF LOS FRESNOS...OR 8 MILES EAST OF SAN BENITO...DRIFTING SOUTHWEST NEAR 5 MPH. * THE TORNADO WILL OVER PORTIONS OF NORTHERN AND WESTERN LOS FRESNOS AND COMMUNITIES WEST OF LOS FRESNOS. THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IN IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR IN AN INTERIOR HALLWAY OR CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY. LAT...LON 2612 9771 2599 9754 2623 9732 2630 9763 YURA
The office that day
Everything else NWS Brownsville, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 3:44 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BRO | Cameron | 31 min |
| May 31, 4:17 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BRO | Cameron | 28 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Texas, 2001Every tornado warning in 2001Tornadoes in 2001
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.